AlphaCharis

Haha that's so true. There was this stage I shot last year and everyone was shooting it the exact same way. I ended up shooting it different and cut across in a straight line outside the shooting area in front of a series of barrels instead of following the curved path behind them all, ended up being way faster and much less awkward. Sometimes people see a stage a different way, so I like to see and consider all the different ways of shooting it. Plus it will help me to view stages in different ways in the future. I usually pick a plan that is the most efficient but also the easiest for me to execute i.e. it feels better or will be easier to remember. The soft cover stage (Clutch) at Oregon State I was going back and forth on how to shoot it lol, finally just picked one, and did it. I felt like it wasn't the quickest way, but the easiest for me to do it. Ended up getting 8th in Production on it (which is good for me lol). The stage in the original post was shot in a lot of different ways by the squad. And it was one of those stages that I could not decide on how to shoot it the best.

5/27/17 - 5/28/17 2017 Oregon State Championship Production -14th Place 2nd B Class High Lady Overall 83 of 222 Work on Need to work on getting into awkward positions faster Reloads. Reloads when facing different angles/when moving. Reloading before I leave a position Call shots on swingers, and trust my shooting - don't take unneeded pickups Get lower - continue to work on walking with bent legs Find cause for malfunctions when my slide is catching the case (new ejector?) Call shots, don't rush! Grip. Why is so hard in matches to get this right? Trigger freeze... bleh... what am I doing? Stop thinking Positives Getting better at looking at the positives.... I'm screwing up less! I mean... I am continuing to advance in my gun handling fundamentals and shot calling that is helping me to shoot faster and more accurately No stage plan screw ups! I mean... I am planning my stages, visualizing them better, and then shooting them according to plan. The stage with the soft cover took me FOREVER to decide on how to shoot it... I finally just made myself pick a plan, decide that it wasn't the "best, most effecient" plan, but it didn't matter - that I was going to execute it as well as I could. On that stage, ended up 8th Production, 1st B, and 75.75% of stage winner, and 63rd overall of 220 shooters. Staying calm on things that are intimidating to me lol and not screwing up just because I was worried about something. The drop turner stage, I thought I wasn't going to have enough time to shoot the activator, shoot the mini popper and then shoot the drop turner before it disappeared. I shot it according to plan with time to spare. I guess I don't recognize what I'm capable of shooting and just assume I will fail because I'm not a good enough shooter. Clearing malfs. Getting pretty good with that (unfortunately? lol)

5-16-17 #pewpewing 9th overall of 25, 72.94% of Open Master Last gun I shot was the Open gun, so stage one I was kinda looking at my red fiber and spraying bullets. Messed up reload on classifier.... last time it was 79% this time 70% Been having trigger freeze quite a bit.. not sure what I'm doing under the table stage, NickBlasta told me beforehand that it would be hard to see, so focus. He was right lol, had to focus after some missed shots shooting through softcover was fun! Need to pretend it's not there at all 5-21-17 #pewpewing I was 3rd Production, 29th of 108 overall. I was pretty happy with the first stage of the day. I'm getting a little more comfortable with starting to move away from the targets while shooting them. Still need to get lower and more stable so I can keep shooting without delay. Tried getting reloads done before entering position, still needs lots of work, but not waiting on my reloads as nearly as I used to be. Steel shots were really ON today 100 yard prone.... sucked. Need to drop faster. Need to aim. Zebra paper... need to focus on those a little better and remember that the target is way smaller... like shooting a steel plate or head shot. I am not aiming appropriately More practice kicking out of leans. Need to get lower here, too. Need to always through my checklist for walk-through. One stage I didn't locate all my targets and half-way through shooters looked at the round count and realized I was short on targets.... finally saw a target I missed and had to change my stage plan!

5/13/17 Classifier Match Got to shoot five classifiers and 1 field course at the match. Had a really long day, as we shot the whole match with one gun, and then whoever wanted to shoot another gun reshot the match with the other. Shot from 10 AM - 5 PM. #Open Classification! I borrowed an open gun, which I shot once last year, to get classified in Open. I could find the dot if I was looking straight. Not so much on the leaning or the WEAK HAND. That was funny. But I'm classified now! Initial classification was 56.1259% #PCC Classification I also borrowed a PCC from a friend to get classified! Initial classification was 51.5041% Ouch.

Congrats on the HOA at Oregon! Nice shootin'!

#classifier 5-2-17 FIRST "A CLASS" CLASSIFIER! I wasn't super impressed with my performance, but it got me a 79.75% classifier score! My first A class score... FINALLY! I started with a bad draw, so my paper was a little slow, and my transitions between the two papers needed to be quicker, but I was really happy with my steel! Had fun on this one, and I was really excited once I saw the result lol Skills to focus on in dry fire this week: + Back to the basics with a consistent draw & index + Make sure I don't let up on a strong support hand grip. It hasn't been tired or sore so I know I've been cheating myself! + Push speed with 90° & 180° transitions - use the timer!

???

I've actually noticed that as well; we have mostly whites and Asians who shoot, and I wondered why there weren't more African Americans interested in competition - numbers more in tune with the demographics of the area. My guess is that there isn't as much of a heritage of gun ownership, a lot due to our history of racism. It wasn't that long ago that gun ownership was made difficult for the African American population. In 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. applied for a permit for concealed carry permit in a "may issue" state and was denied, even though he was receiving death threats. While he was able to own guns, I think it was made more difficult and not a positive experience. With the past hurdles and prejudice many black families may just not have owned guns and didn't pass that culture of gun ownership on to their kids. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, only 19% of blacks said they had a pistol, rifle, or shotgun in the home, compared to 41% of whites. And when African Americans make up 12.6% of the population in America, and only a small percentage of that number owns a gun to begin with, and then there are only 25,000 USPSA members.... the numbers are going to naturally be small. In another Pew study, 54% of African Americans believed that guns could prevent them from being a victim of crime; so I think that more people are seeing the positive side of gun ownership, like through the work of Colion Noir, and gun ownership is on the rise... and then so will participation in USPSA! That's just my guess, though.

My average (...at the one live fire session I've done this year) was 1.07, hands at sides, alpha to 7 yards with plastic Production gun. My fastest was .93. I'm a mid-B class Production shooter who needs to practice lol

I think at 0:27, I would have shot the right target first since it becomes obstructed as you move forward, and the left one doesn't... so you kinda had to lean to get it instead of continuing forward.

Just curious... are the half targets a legal target presentation? In USPSA if you cut a target, I don't think you can use the other piece as a separate target, and was just wondering if IPSC allowed it in their rules. I think you could be more aggressive in transitioning from target to target, like at 0:26 and again at 0:35. I think you could snap over a little faster; it looks a little leisurely. I have a problem with "urgency" as well, and have been getting better with dryfire. I've been pushing my 90 degree and 180 degree transitions in dryfire, and it is translating to faster movement in matches, though I still have a long way to go! Your run looked solid, though!

Haha, I totally agree! ^^^^^ I would say, yeah, don't "try" to do well at a classifier, just treat it like any other stage. Don't "hero or zero" it - you already figured that out. Don't worry about classing up at all. Don't think about being "stuck," it's like negative reinforcement to screw up your mental game when you get to a classifier. I just think: "I am becoming an A class shooter by following my training schedule." Then I leave it in the hands of my performance. If I'm not shooting A class classifiers, then I am not consistent enough, yet, to be A class. So, there is really nothing to worry about. I don't need to worry about when I will become A class, because it will just happen when I'm ready. BUT FOR YOU: You can request USPSA to count the scores they dropped because they were "too high". It's a super simple process, someone I shoot with just did it a few weeks ago, and it doesn't take that long to get them counted. You also don't shoot that many matches. Look up an average M class shooter, and their classifiers look very similar - wildly inconsistent. Their classifier percentage for the match score are usually pretty consistent with their match performance, because most of the other M's and GM's aren't hundoing their classifiers, either. I made B class, am around 68% right now, but my classifier scores look just like yours. You are a better shooter than I am -- you will be out of C class very soon, I don't think you will have to worry about it. And when you finally make B... all your mediocre scores won't count anymore and you'll be on your way to make M. Another thing, I think it should be more acceptable for people to reshoot a classifier. I don't mean EVERY time or keep reshooting it until you get the score you want, but I think, in your case -- when you are clearly stuck in a class below your ability and only shoot once or twice a month, and then you mentally screw up the classifier and waste another match opportunity to be classified at your current level of ability -- I think it would be reasonable to pay for a re-shoot.

Haha, thanks! I don't think you have to be an M or GM to have a good stage plan, though I would say there are a lot of shooters that have enough experience seeing a variety of stages and ways to shoot stages that they have valid input. Speaking of not having a good idea, though, reminds me of the ones people had when planning their stage, and then you're watching them shoot, scratchin' your head, thinking, "What is he doing?!" But then he executes the monstrous plan really well, and finishes competitively with a "good" stage plan lol So, even if an idea isn't any good.... it can be workable, I guess. hehe

Ah! Even with the extra movement, it would probably save more time than being static for an eternity while I load my belt. I went over several combinations of grabbing/stashing my mags, but hadn't thought of this, and no one on my squad shot it this way. Thanks! Gives me something to think about the next time I come across a similar scenario. I think I got tunnel vision in the walk-through because I let the mags on the barrel intimidate me, and then was paralyzed by all the choices haha

What is a better way to have shot this stage? Especially what to do with the mags. I shoot Production and the WSB was: Unloaded gun starts on LEFT barrel, ALL mags on RIGHT barrel. Shooter can start anywhere in the shooting area. Can stuff mags or use them off the barrel. Should be cued at 01:01 in my match video. Execution turned out kinda crappy. I didn't walk this stage nearly enough, mainly because I was undecided for the longest time on my stage plan. Finally just picked something even though it didn't feel the most efficient. For reference for available targets: in the right position where I shot the plate rack, the only other targets you could see were the left three plates on the left hand plate rack. Back at the barrel where the mags started, you can see the right three plates on the left plate rack looking through the front middle port - I actually did not notice this during the walkthrough.... I probably could have avoided stuffing so many mags :/ ). In addition to the 4 paper targets I shot through the left port, you could see the entire left hand plate rack, so you could also shoot it from there instead and avoid going to the far left of the stage. The targets I shot through the middle and right ports were only visible through those ports. Ended up on this stage 10th overall, 76.12% of Open M stage winner, 3rd Production, 78.15% stage winner did it in 24.82 seconds, my time was 31.76

My FIRST "A Class" Classifier! (79.75%) I got a bad grip out of the holster and shot my paper with a horrible grip (shoulda fixed it before I drew!), I still managed 3 alpha, 1 charlie on them. After the reload I fixed my grip and was able to mow down the steel. Time was 6.02 seconds on Paper Poppers 03-05. Because my first half was a little chunky and thought it was slow, I was thinking it'd be about a 68%, but azshooters calculated it to be nearly 80% ! Woot! I had the Production stage win on this stage. I was 3rd place in Production and for the match, I got 72.91% of the Open M overall winner I was pretty happy. ...now only 4 more good scores to make A class lol Back in January WOULD HAVE BEEN my first A class classifier, if I had not have taken an UNNEEDED pickup shot on a Virginia Count Classifier lol

#pewpewing Haven't posted in awhile - but I've been shooting! I think I'm caught up on all my matches now I've been doing some dryfire, but not as much as I had been. I started that back up this week, just haven't felt complete without it - and definitely won't make A class this year without it! 4-18-17 Mt Rainier's Shadow 4-23-17 Renton Match last Sunday, I was 29th overall of 73 shooters and 4th in Production. Had an awesome time with a FUN squad, as always. Made some little mistakes that cost me seconds here and there... I'll need to be a little more serious in my rehearsal. I have made some gains though, so it's fun to see a little bit of improvement. In order that I shot, and on the video: Stage 3 - plate rack stage. Needed tighter support grip. Need follow through on target, rushed off a target (the one I thought I miked, but didn't want to make it up because I was going to go to slide lock... ended up a delta). Stage 4- the stage with the wooden walls and two ports and a door. needed better rehearsal. also should have gone deep on the leftmost target, don't know why I shot the one through the port first. Target transitions were chunky. Aiming was slow. Didn't follow through on target... rushed to it, then off it by trying to reload too early - two deltas. Stage 5 - A positive, yay - started shooting earlier - instead of planting and then getting ready and shooting - I had the gun up and was aiming as I was entering. Negative - I racked a round out when I reloaded, so went to slide lock early and wasted a bit of time. Also should have kept walking earlier on the last targets, so I would have been right in front of the last target, ready to shoot, Stage 6 - the stage with the walls cutting the shooting boxes in half. Felt like my draw was really conservative. Needed to move more aggressively around the walls. I did start leaning out of the first shooting box position as I was finishing up, so that was good. I somehow bumped a round out of my mag when I went for the reload, so that slowed me down and wasn't ready to shoot when I entered the second box. And then again, needed to be more aggressive going around the wall. Stage 1 - uprange start, very muddy. 180 transition could have been a bit snappier. And I really need to do the kick off thing for exits. My exits are really slow, I need to kick it up several notches and burst out of position, instead of this gradual acceleration. I rushed off targets TWICE in this stage, getting deltas. I've been too anxious and not following through. I'll blame it on not dryfiring as much.... not getting the practice of calling my shots. Stage 2 - classifier. Too slow on everything. Skills to Work on: The drop kick run thing for exiting positions Dryfire: Good grip out of the holster. Grip tight! Dryfire: Regain a good index (kept bringing my front sight up low) More specific in rehearsal/walk-through (try Hwansik's idea of walk-throughs/rehearsal for dryfire as well) I started the first three months this year well with lots of dryfire, but I've been slacking off the past month-ish... now back to it! Need to git gooder!

#drypewpewing 4-11-17 30 minutes Warm up: Slo-mo draws, draws at speed. Slow fire at distance; good trigger presses at speed @ 10 yards. Bill Drill, 1.7 seconds, 10 reps - too fast! super rusty! 90 degree transitions x10 Reloads on the move Turn & Draw Little rusty at everything!!

#pewpewing 4-9-2017 Paul Bunyan Felt like I was reloading smoother, felt like I was a little more aggressive, and was moving faster

2017 Area 1 Championship Production 59th Place of 104 16th B Class of 25 4th Lady of 17 Was a great match, but wish I could redo the first two days. I think I said, "What's wrong with me?!" a dozen times. Zeroed my sights on the third day after I nearly zeroed a stage when I thought I was aiming. Groups were about 6 inches left and a little low. The rest of the stages on the last day felt like I was actually shooting!! *sigh*

#pewpewing 3-19-17 Marysville, WA I finally had a Production stage win! ....and it was the ONLY stage I didn't record lol Positives and Skills to work on: my mags do NOT like steel case ammo - does not feed correctly when they stick reloads becoming less of a problem, but need to really nail them. I'm waiting on a reload when I should be shooting getting gun up earlier, and starting to try and be ready as I'm coming into position need to get lower need to work on exits, like really bad (Same Production M was the Production winner as the PB match on 3-12-17) Production 5th Place, 72.59% (Overall 41st of 101) 1 - 57.28 2 - 75.23 3 - 75.09 4 - 100 5 - 79.08 6 - 50.78

3-12-17 Paul Bunyan ZEROED A STAGE!! This is what happens when you mix your springs incorrectly....

#pewpewing 3-12-17 Paul Bunyan This match was totally nothing special - my shooting that is. I walked away depressed. Took me almost a week before I made my match video, and my description on it was simply: "I shot horrible and was thus depressed all week. Dryfired twice. Felt a little better." The only stage I kinda was happy with was the second stage, which the video should start at - that was my best stage at 78.93% of a Production M and 6th of 22. Stages - Production 1 - 55.53 2 - 78.93 3 - 74.21 4 - 8.33 (2 mikes on the classifier lol) 5 - 0 6 - 69.67 7 - 55.69 8 - 69.00

#drypewpewing 3-1-17 45 minutes Warmed up first with slow mo reloads, getting a good grip. Went through "15 min dry fire" except the two kneeling ones. DId about 15 reps of of reload to SH, reload to WH. Practiced shooting moving forward/back, reloading stepping left/right, transitions. Bill Drill, 1.7 seconds, 20 reps Reloads, 5.9 seconds, 10 reps Reloads, 5.0 seconds, 25 reps Draw to first shot, 0.9 seconds, 10 reps Draw to first shot 1.0 seconds, 10 reps Reflections: Honest dry fire - less time, higher quality. Spend some time in marksmanship. Skills to work on: Weak hand grip Consistency in draw - draw to sights aligned

You ended up being the lucky one! lol Right after that stage we ended up waiting an hour to shoot and another hour and half shooting the stage because of activators malfunctioning, two squads backed up behind us, and finishing at 5 PM I'm glad you took it well and treated yourself. Great squadding with you today and hope to see you on the range again soon